Canoes and Compasses Game for Boy Scouts

Canoes and Compasses Game

Canoe, 3 life jackets, 2 paddles, compass, and blanket for each team of 3 scouts

Notes:

If you make this a timed race, there is more chance of collisions in the water.

Instructions:

Set up some numbered buoys at least 100 feet from the shore of a lake, about 20 feet apart.Set up a starting point on shore for each team.

From one starting point, take compass bearings to each buoy and write down the bearing for each numbered buoy. Also, write down the bearing on a separate slip of paper and put all these slips in a bag at the starting point. Repeat this for each starting point.

A team of 3 scouts gets ready in a canoe. Two of the scouts are paddlers, and the third kneels in the middle, under a blanket, holding a flashlight and a compass. When the canoe is ready to go, the activity leader gives a slip of paper to the scout under the blanket. The slip of paper has a compass bearing written on it.

When the activity leader starts the game, the paddlers paddle the canoe toward the buoys based on the directions given by the scout under the blanket. He should tell them to turn 'port' or 'starboard' as needed.

When the canoe reaches a buoy, the number of the buoy is recorded on the slip of paper and the team returns for the next slip. The activity leader on shore takes the completed slip and gives the navigator the next slip from the bag.